Walking holidays are a speciality here, thanks to the hotel’s blessed situation amid the hills and footpaths of the Welsh Borders. You can do 30-minute strolls to full-day treks. Offa’s Dyke long-distance trail is less than a mile away.

Walk to the end of the garden of this family-run hotel, and you’ll find the Norfolk Coast Path, with its miles of beach, marshland, bridleways, quiet country lanes, abundant birdlife and enormous skies.

Six circular walks, taking in glorious Monmouthshire countryside, start from the Bell’s front door; staff provide illustrated guides charting the route, history and wildlife of each one. In summer, you can order a picnic to take with you.

There’s no TV, radio, Wi-Fi or mobile signal here – just miles of moorland sometimes described as Britain’s last great wilderness. By turns desolate and uplifting, it has been lauded by writers from William Wordsworth to Robert Macfarlane.

There is no shortage of beautiful walks from the front door of this cosy inn through Dartmoor’s huge spaces, and staff will provide plenty of detailed information on them. South Devon and the Coast Path are a short drive away.

The gardens at this glamorous, sun-soaked hotel on Porthminster Point lead on to the South West Coast Path – ideal for walks that will conveniently take you past many foodie and cultural points of interest, such as Tate St Ives.

The Blackstairs mountains and South Leinster Way are a short stroll from this country house, as is the Barrow Navigation Towpath. Curracloe beach, where the D-Day scenes of Saving Private Ryan were filmed, is an hour’s drive away.

Pembrokeshire’s dramatic coastal paths and the Preseli hills are waiting to be discovered on foot from this friendly, adults-only B&B. On your return there is a drying room for muddy clothes, and pre- arranged evening meals.

Just ten minutes on foot from Grasmere, this is an idyllic spot for walkers of all abilities, from ramblers to serious hikers. Luxury rooms and a Michelin-starred restaurant will do wonders for aching feet and hungry tummies on your return.

Guide books, maps and a packed lunch can be supplied at the Reynoldses’ Dales hotel. Whether you’re up for the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge or a stroll in the Forest of Bowland, you can reward yourself on your return with afternoon tea in the lounge.

Whether you choose to follow the Coastal Path or stride out on Bodmin Moor from Sharon and Nigel Reed’s small hotel, they will provide a pick-up-and-drop-off service. Set off with a superb breakfast under your belt.

Help yourself to a complimentary packed lunch before setting off from James Moffett’s manor house hotel to explore the Peak District, discover Dovedale, perhaps to follow the old railway track bed of the Tissington and High Peaks Trails.

Wherever you walk around here, you find yourself in the footsteps of Beatrix Potter, who spent family holidays at this country house, now run as a hotel by Richard Lee. Her farmhouse, Hill Top, is nearby. A newly opened path runs by Esthwaite Water to Hawkshead.

The Wild Atlantic Way, the Cliffs of Moher and the eerie karst moonscape of the Burren are on the doorstep of this 18th-century mansion. Hosts Martina and John Sheedy are happy to share their local knowledge and provide maps.

The Inkin brothers’ dining pub is a popular watering hole for hikers on the Coastal Path. Set out from here to explore cliffs and coves, see seals basking on the Carracks, discover the farm source of Moormaid of Zennor ice cream.

Guests wishing to tackle the Cadair range can request a lift from Alex Yorke and Lorraine Hinkins’s Snowdonia guest house and walk back. There are forest, river and mountain walks, a hot tub for a soak on your return.

More than 40 miles of signed routes around Pitlochry lead through woodland, along the loch side, by river and burn, to the Linn of Tummel waterfall, to Scotland’s smallest distillery. Struan and Louise Lothian, hosts at this hotel, are happy to advise.

A circular walk, taking in two miles of Offa’s Dyke, will present you with an eagle’s eye view of Victoria and Geoff Neal’s historic hotel and abbey ruins. A hearty meal, not frugal monkish fare, will be served up on your return.

Thoughtful route guides to local walks have been compiled by the long-time owners of this manor house hotel near the top of the North Pennines and just three miles from coast-to-coast Hadrian’s Wall Path.

Guests can order a picnic before setting out from this Edwardian country house hotel, perhaps to follow a waymarked path ten miles around Derwentwater, or to climb to the top of Catbells for panoramic views.

Steps from the Coastal Path, this friendly small hotel offers a variety of walking and strolling options. Head across country to the Lost Gardens of Heligan – lost no more – and return for a Cornish cream tea.

From this Edwardian hunting lodge, walkers climb to the top of the eponymous beacon hill, or pick up the Coleridge Way across Exmoor towards Lynmouth or Nether Stowey in the footsteps of the great poet. How romantic is that!

From a stroll along the Loch Fyne shore, to exploring enchanted Puck’s Glen, broad leaf and conifer forests and waterfalls, great walks start at the door of this friendly inn, or are just a short drive away.

You pass a blow hole on the walk to the sea stack of Downpatrick Head, topped with the ruins of a church founded by St Patrick. One of many thrilling forays from this hotel on the Wild Atlantic Way.

Tea and biscuits await Rover’s return to this dog-friendly rural B&B, after a day roaming the blue remembered hills of Shropshire, visiting Ironbridge Gorge, or browsing the specialist food shops in nearby Ludlow.

You can pick up the Thames Path from this welcoming pub-with-rooms in the William Morris heartlands, perhaps to walk to Lechlade, or past a pretty lock- keeper’s cottage, for a crafty pint in The Trout at Tadpole Bridge.

You can take a scenic walk around Bala lake, pick up a family or heritage trail, head for hill or mountain, from this lovely Snowdonia B&B. A good breakfast sets you up; drying facilities await your return.